Normandy

Yesterday: the last excursion offered to the CIDEF students for this semester. I have to say, I'm rather glad that they are over. Don't get me wrong--I liked them and enjoyed each and every one of them, but it will still be nice to actually have some weekends free.

So. The excursion. Where did I go, you ask? Normandy.

Enough said.

This trip was the longest and--I must admit--the most tiring day of all of the excursions. It was also a completely different trip than its predecessors. Whereas the other trips were very fun and lighthearted, Normandy was anything but...which wasn't really surprising.

I truly, honestly do not feel like recapping every little detail. For that, I apologize. But after all, extensively reliving such a serious and sad trip does not really appeal to me at the moment. So instead, I have decided to list the activities in list form with a short explanation and my impressions regarding each one.

So here goes.

1.) Memorial Museum: kind of self-explanatory. There were three different sections to this museum: the causes of the war, the French occupation, and the time after the US joined the war. We also got to see two movies, one about D-Day and the other about the Battle of Normandy.

2.) The Cemetary of American Soldiers: again, self-explanatory. There were these huge monuments to honor the soldiers, as well as thousands of headstones, mostly shaped like crosses. Here and there was a headstone shaped like the star of David to represent a Jewish soldier. It was very humbling to see that sight.

3.) Omaha Beach: one of the beaches where soldiers landed on D-Day. We only stayed for about twenty minutes--after all, it was a beach. There was a monument and sculpture built right at the top, but not much else to set it apart as the historical landmark.

4.) The Huc Ranger Peak: this was my favorite part. It was a point between Omaha Beach and Utah Beach where a group of American soldiers were given the near-impossible task of taking out hidden enemies before they had the chance to fire on those landing at the beaches. To do so, they had to scale a peak and then play a fatal game of hide-and-seek with the Germans. The land was still full of trenches and hidden bunkers where the Germans stockpiled their weapons.

5.) The Cemetary of German Soldiers: to finish off the day. The ambiance of this cemetary was completely different than that of the American cemetary. The crosses were grayish-black and placed in groups of five (not sure why). In the middle was a steep hill on top of which was a rather imposing monument. I think that Katie described it best when she said that the American cemetary was to honor and remember the soldiers who lost their lives in the war, whereas the German cemetary was more a sign of respect for the deceased.